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Chapter Seven

The Lantern

Updated 4/25/2015

-o=o-

A bright flash filled the hospital ward as four young adults and a house-elf suddenly appeared there, standing atop a bright white disc that vanished as quickly as it had appeared. They stood before the bed of the unconscious man Harry had rescued hours earlier from a mountain in Scandinavia.

"Thanks," Harry said to Illyana. He turned to Ron and Hermione. "Lock the hospital doors," he told them. "Dobby," he said to the house-elf. "Can you watch and let us know if Professor Dumbledore or any other teacher comes this way? I need to talk to Mr. Jordan and find out where this power battery he's supposed to have is."

"Dobby will go at once, Harry Potter!" Dobby squeaked happily, then vanished with a soft crack.

Harry knelt down next to the unconscious man. "Mr. Jordan?" he spoke softly so as not to startle him. "Can you hear me?" Jordan didn't respond.

Illyana had gone around to the other side of Jordan's bed. "Harry, he's still recovering from all those repairs you did to his body," she said, shaking her head. "I don't think he's going to wake up for a while."

"I need to find that power battery," Harry said. "We don't know when Sinestro's going to return or who he'll have with him, but we can't let him take Mr. Jordan! He tried to kill him before — there's no reason to think he won't try again!"

"You're right," Illyana agreed. She looked down at the Green Lantern. "Well, I did it for you; there's no reason why I shouldn't do it for him."

"Do what?" Harry asked.

"You'll see," Illyana said. She placed a hand on Jordan's chest—and a stepping disc suddenly appeared beneath them, flashing brightly and making Harry blink stars out of his eyes. When the stars faded a moment later, he looked down to find Jordan awake and moaning in pain.

"Ouch. Ouch," Jordan groaned. "Man, that hurts." He looked up at Harry. "Hey, kid," he said, smiling and putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Thanks for saving me from Sinestro. I was in a pretty bad way back there when you found me." He nodded at his two intact legs. "And thanks for giving me my legs again. About the only thing worse than being a Green Lantern with no legs is being one with no hands," he grinned.

"Well, you were one hand short of being that way, too," Illyana, who'd reappeared opposite Harry, remarked.

"True," Jordan agreed. He held out his hand to Harry. "Hal Jordan. I guess the ring told you my name."

"Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you, sir," Harry said, shaking his hand. Seeing the ring, Jordan turned Harry's hand so he could look at it.

"It looks good on you, Harry," Jordan said. "Give me a few more hours and you may not need to keep it—I'll be ready to take on Sinestro again myself."

"Are you sure?" Harry certainly wasn't sure. "A few seconds ago you were unconscious and not responding to me at all."

"Well, that was before—" Hal stopped and looked at Illyana, uncertain what to say. "Um, maybe she ought to tell you."

"What did you do?" Harry asked her.

"It's pretty simple," Illyana said, smiling. "I've got this little pocket dimension called Limbo—"

"Oh, surely not Limbo," Hermione said from near the hospital doors. "Isn't that just a place certain religions believe is the abode of unbaptized children?"

"Limbo is just one of its names," Illyana replied. "It's also called Otherplace. It was once ruled by a demon named Belasco, who controlled it, everyone and everything that existed there."

"What happened to him?" Ron asked, worried that this new guy might show up on Earth as well.

"He made the mistake of kidnapping me there," Illyana said, levelly. "Once I'd learned enough magic, I threw him out and took over the place for myself."

"Why are you telling us this?" Harry wanted to know.

"The laws of time and space don't mean much in a place like Limbo," Illyana explained. "I was there for seven years before I deposed Belasco, and when I returned to Earth only a few seconds had passed since my team mates had escaped from it. From their perspective, I had aged seven years in mere seconds."

She pointed to Jordan. "I just did the same thing with Hal here. He and I popped into Limbo for a few days, giving him time for his bones to regrow and him to recover some of his strength. But from your perspective, less than a second elapsed. When he came to, I filled him in on the situation and what we'd learned while he was unconscious."

"Which reminds me," Hal said, raising his left hand. As he did, a green object he was holding shimmered into existence. "You probably need to recharge the ring. That's what Illyana told me."

Harry stared at the power battery. It did resemble a green lantern, though unlike a normal lantern it was colored entirely green, and was glowing with green energy, just like his ring. In the center he could see the bright green orb that the energy flowed from. Automatically Harry placed his right hand in the battery, touching the orb with his ring, and recited the Oath:

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!

Harry could feel power flowing into the ring as he recited the oath. He looked at Hal, who had been mouthing the words along with him. "It's a poweful feeling," Harry said, staring at the ring. "Reciting those words, I mean."

"Agreed," Hal nodded. "I remember the first time I recited the oath, after Abin Sur gave me the ring. For a long time I thought I was the only person in the universe with one of those rings. I finally learned there are many, many other Green Lanterns, just like me."

"3600 in all," Harry said, remembering information the ring had placed in his brain.

"One for each sector of the galaxy," Hal said. "Controlled by the Guardians, who live on Oa in Sector Zero at the center, taking care of the Central Power Battery, where all of the Green Lanterns get their energy."

Harry nodded somberly. It seemed like his idea to make Green Lanterns of Sirius, Dobby and his friends had been somewhat misguided. "Mr. Jordan," he said. "When you're ready to take back the ring, just let me know."

"Not so fast, Harry," Hal said, smiling. "I gave the ring to you. I didn't think I was going to make it, and the ring and I both know you've got the courage to fight Sinestro. From what Illyana told me, other people have tried to take the ring from you, but you haven't let them."

Harry nodded.

"Good," Hal said. "Don't. Don't even let me take it, if it comes to that. I can help you fight Sinestro, if you want me to. In fact, it might be better if we use more than just one or two people to fight him. Because of an impurity in the ring, it's not effective against the color yellow, which is why Sinestro uses a yellow ring."

Harry nodded again. "I was thinking I could make duplicates of the ring," he said. "And give it to some people here, to help me fight him."

"It's a good idea," Hal agreed. "But you'll need to be sure they're worthy—not everyone can use one of these rings effectively—some not at all. The ring will evaluate a prospective ring-bearer and make a ring for them only if they pass evaluation."

"I see," Harry said. "Mr. Jordan, do you—"

"You can call me Hal, Harry," Jordan suggested.

"Hal, do you feel good enough to come with us?" Harry asked. "I have a few people in mind for these rings, and I'd like to do it somewhere teachers won't be able to find us."

Hal stretched his arms and legs, grunting with some pain, but— "Everything seems to be working okay now. That time I spent in Limbo—or wherever it was—did me a lot of good." He stood, turning and stretching a little more. "I'm ready."

"Illyana, would you—?" Harry asked her.

"Sure." Illyana came around the bed, gesturing for Ron and Hermione to join them. "Dobby!" she said loudly, before Harry could.

Dobby appeared a moment later. "Dobby hears you, Illyana Rasputin," he said, covering his large ears. "You doesn't have to shout."

"All aboard," Illyana said.

"Aboard what?" Hal asked, looking around just as a white stepping disc appeared below them, flashing brightly as it transported them back to the Room of Requirement.

-o=o-

In the Headmaster's office—

Albus and the staff of Hogwarts lowered their wands. The wards protecting the school had been renewed, reinforcing them, and Dumbledore had added additional protections as well, spells guarding against normal physical attacks as well as magical and Dark ones. "Very good," he pronounced, looking at each of the teachers in turn as well as Minister Fudge, who had watched them but hadn't participated. "We should be able to withstand an attack from outside forces, even ones that use energy weapons like the ring Harry has."

"That's all very well and good, Dumbledore," Fudge said impatiently. "But with You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters off to Azkaban, I should finish my business here and get back to Headquarters. We still need to get that ring from Potter!"

"What ring?" Professor Sprout asked. She looked around at the other teachers, many of whom simply shrugged or shook their heads.

"Young Mr. Potter has somehow acquired a ring of tremendous power," Dumbledore explained. "It was given to him, he said, by a man in a rather colorful body suit whom he found injured somewhere." He went on to explain how Harry had somehow been able to learn numerous healing spells and use them to heal the man he had found from near-death, even going as far as regrowing an arm, both legs and an eye in a matter of minutes.

"That's amazing," Professor Vector exclaimed, and the others who had just heard this news agreed. "Truly, such power should not be in the hands of a student, not even Harry Potter!"

"I concur," Professor Snape agreed. "We have been trying to get the ring from Potter but he refuses to part with it. No doubt he has the same delusions of grandeur that his father suffered from."

"That is not Mr. Potter's problem," McGonagall objected. "In spite of your dislike of his father, Professor Snape, Harry has been a very conscientious, if mostly average student here at Hogwarts. From what I have observed in just the past few hours, he has been trying to protect people and the school from harm!"

"Be that as it may, Professor," Fudge harrumphed, "I still want that ring studied by our Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries! If it was powerful enough to somehow give Potter the knowledge to heal the injured Muggle, it could be very dangerous in the wrong hands!"

"Agreed, Minister," McGonagall nodded, though she could see that the irony of what Fudge had said was lost on him. "It could be very dangerous in the wrong hands!"

"So you're with me on this, then!" Fudge crowed, thinking he was in the right. Professors Snape, Vector and Sinistra nodded agreement; the other professors kept their opinions to themselves.

"Indeed," Dumbledore spoke up now, "I think we all agree that Harry should surrender the ring to the proper authorities." He stepped over to a spindly table holding an assortment of silver instruments, tapping one resembling an eye atop a pyramid and saying, "Harry Potter" as he did so. The eye began rotating back and forth, emitting wheep-wheep sounds as it did, until it shot a puff of smoke from the iris of the eye. The smoke wafted through the air, forming a shaft around which a stream of smoke swirled. The swirl of smoke expanded at the tip, forming a snake's head: it was the rod of Asclepius, the symbol of medicine.

"Young Harry is in the hospital wing," Dumbledore announced. He pointed his wand at the doors of his office and they opened, giving the staff access to the rotating staircase that would take them to the entrance of the Headmaster's office. "Minerva," he said to McGonagall, "you and I will talk to Harry about this—the rest of you may go about your normal activities, and thank you for helping to fortify the castle's defenses." The staff filed out of the room, going down the stairs, until only Dumbledore, McGonagall and Fudge were left. Snape remained behind as well.

"Severus," Dumbledore said mildly, "I don't believe your presence is required for this conversation."

Snape stared at the Headmaster for a long moment, then nodded stiffly and left the office as well, disappearing down the stairs.

"Well?" Fudge demanded, after Snape had left. "Hadn't we better get down to the infirmary?"

"We will, Cornelius," Dumbledore murmured, glancing toward the stand where his phoenix, Fawkes sat, seemingly asleep. McGonagall sighed, not relishing the prospect of phoenix flame travel—it was rather an unpleasant feeling, to her mind. "Will you and Minerva take hold of my sleeves, and do not let go."

"What's this all about?" Fudge asked irritably, not understanding what Dumbledore planned.

"You will see," Dumbledore said, raising his arms in front of himself. "Fawkes!"

The phoenix immediately launched itself into the air, flying over the Headmaster and lowering its tail, which Dumbledore reached up and grasped with both hands. Fawkes, Dumbledore and his two passengers were engulfed in flames and vanished, arriving a moment later in the corridor outside the hospital ward.

"Merlin's beard!" Fudge exclaimed, jerking his hand away from Dumbledore's robe. "You might have given a fellow warning, Dumbledore!"

"My apologies, Cornelius," Dumbledore offered, though his eyes were twinkling with amusement. "As you will agree, time was of the essence."

"Yes, yes," Fudge muttered. "Well, let's get this over with, then."

Nodding, Dumbledore entered the hospital ward, only to find it empty—even the injured man was no longer in the bed he'd been lying in earlier. "Oh, dear," he murmured. "Apparently time was of more importance than even I imagined. Harry is no longer here."

"Headmaster!" Dumbledore turned to see Madam Pomfrey bustling toward him from her office. "Are you looking for Harry and the other students?"

"Yes, Poppy," Dumbledore replied. "Do you know where they are?"

"They were here only seconds ago!" Pomfrey told him. "I was watching and listening from my office, and Mr. Potter came back to talk to the man he'd brought in." She looked quite shaken. "I don't mind telling you, Headmaster, that some very strange things have been going on around here! A Muggle that can resist the castle protection wards! A girl who can perform strange magic! And Harry Potter with a ring that lets him perform healing magic beyond anything even a Master Healer can do! And now they've all run off with that strangely-garbed man to some place they called the 'Room of Requirement'!" she finished.

"The Room of Requirement?" Dumbledore echoed. "I don't believe I've ever heard of that room." He turned to McGonagall. "Have you, Minerva?"

"No," McGonagall said. "Not even while I was attending Hogwarts myself."

"Nor I," Dumbledore agreed, as Fudge shook his head. "Strange. As Headmaster I am aware of every room, every staircase, every corridor and passage in the school, yet I have never come across a room that might have a name like that."

"Well, obviously Potter has heard of it!" Fudge exclaimed. "Perhaps he found it with that ring he's got! All the more reason, Dumbledore, to get it away from him as soon as possible!"

"That may be easier said than done, Cornelius," Dumbledore warned. "If Harry has access to knowledge we lack. We may be forced to treat with him on more equal terms if has access to knowledge and power we do not."

"Preposterous!" Fudge said heatedly. "He has to give up that ring!"

"And if he does not agree with you?" Dumbledore fixed the Minister with a penetrating stare. "How will you force him to hand it over?"

"Well—but—but that's your job, Headmaster!" Fudge nearly shouted. "He's your student, he has to obey you!"

"Normally, I would agree with you," Dumbledore said, pondering the implications of what Harry had said about him being able to remove him from his aunt and uncle's home. Outside of Hogwarts itself, the Dursleys remained the safest place Harry could stay, yet if they were not treating him with the care and compassion Petunia should be showing her nephew, a blood relative, as he Dumbledore had naturally expected they would, perhaps Harry had cause to be upset with him. "However, circumstances at his Muggle relatives may not have been what I thought they should be."

"That's not important right now!" Fudge dismissed Dumbledore's concerns with a wave of his hand. "What's important is learning what that ring is capable of!"

"To do that, Cornelius, we must locate Harry Potter and convince him to turn it over," Dumbledore reminded him. "And if it's necessary to point this out once again, none of us knows where this Room of Requirement is located."

"Then ask someone who does!" Fudge demanded. "There must be someone in this school who knows!"

"If Harry discovered it with the aid of that ring, it does not follow that anyone else at Hogwarts knows," Dumbledore said diffidently. "Mrs. Norris," he addressed a thin, dusky-looking cat that had slipped unobtrusively into the hospital ward and was watching them with bulging yellow eyes. "Would you please have Argus report to the hospital ward as soon as possible, please?"

The cat immediately slipped out through the hospital doors. Less than a minute passed before the old caretaker entered the ward, his rheumy eyes focusing on Dumbledore. "Yes, Headmaster?" he asked obsequiously.

"Thank you for coming, Argus," Dumbledore said politely. "Have you by chance ever heard of a room in the castle called the Room of Requirement?"

Filch scratched absently at a stubbly chin. "Can't say as I have, Headmaster," he rasped moments later. "Don't think I've ever heard of a student mentioning it, either. What's this about, then?"

"It's not important," Dumbledore demurred. "I was merely curious if you'd ever heard of the room or a room that no one seemed to know about."

Filch grunted and turned away, but turned back a moment later. "I did once find a room that I've never been able to find again," he muttered. "I was short of cleaning supplies one day and didn't want to bother you. I was thinking about how I would get some, an' then I saw a door I'd never seen before. When I looked inside, there was everything I needed!"

"Where was this room?" McGonagall quickly inquired.

"That's just it," Filch complained. "I don't remember where I was! It seems like I was on one of the top floors, but I don't recollect where, exactly. I do remember," he added darkly, "it was near where I was when I was after those two Weasley twins one time, and lost 'em!"

"And where did that happen?" McGonagall asked, inwardly sighing about whatever Fred and George had been doing to get Filch chasing them.

"Not far from the Gryffindor common room," Filch grumbled. "Near the old hanging of that lunatic Barnabas the Barmy."

"Thank you, Argus," Dumbledore said, and Filch nodded and shuffled from the room. After he'd gone, "I believe we should begin our search for this Room of Requirement there," Dumbledore told his Deputy Headmistress and the Minister. The three of them began walking toward the nearest staircase, heading to that location.

-o=o-

At Azkaban prison—

The training of Voldemort's Death Eaters was proceeding apace: As each prisoner was released from his or her cell, they prostrated themselves at the Dark Lord's feet, kissing the hem of his cloak in supplication for their freedom, then rose and received a yellow power ring on their finger from the tall red-skinned humanoid standing with their master. The ring forced information into their brains, bringing pain and disorientation, though these lasted only moments before they understood the power their new weapon brought to them. They began practicing with it, learning how to manipulate and control the energy of the ring, releasing their frustrations on the cells, walls and ceilings of the prison they had so recently occupied. Doors were ripped open and smashed to pieces. Bars were twisted and melted. Floors and walls were smashed and battered with powerful beams of yellow energy. In short order several floors of the prison were almost totally destroyed.

The Aurors who had manned the prison did not escape the Death Eaters' anger, either. The few who still survived did not last long as they were tortured by vengeful Death Eaters, particularly Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rodolphus and his brother Rastaban, who had been imprisoned since 1981 and particularly loathed the men they saw as their tormentors.

"Your followers do well," Sinestro noted as he watched the destruction, torture and murder with a practiced eye.

"They understand the importance of following orders," Voldemort replied.

"As I trust you do," Sinestro added. "Follow my orders and you will one day rule this world as my vassal."

Voldemort controlled his thoughts and did not react, though something must have slipped through his Occlumency shields. "You disapprove of being my underling?" Sinestro asked, amused.

"I did not say that, my…lord," Voldemort murmured, bowing slightly to show deference to the Yellow Lantern.

"But your thoughts betray you," Sinestro declared. "Make no mistake, Riddle—without me you would still be a prisoner within these wall, you and your little band of rogue magic-users.

"Never forget, I gave you this power," Sinestro warned him. "Cross me in any way and I will take it back from you, and you can bend your neck to whoever replaces you as the ruler of this world!" The tall Korugarian smiled evilly and folded his brawny arms across his chest. "I'm sure there are many on this world who would lust after the opportunity I have given you."

"My apologies, my lord," Voldemort forced himself down on one knee to the haughty alien. "I remain your humble servant, and will obey you in all things."

"See that you do," Sinestro said coldly, then walked away to inspect the remains of the last Auror the Death Eaters had just murdered.

Voldemort watched the insufferable alien walk away from him, vowing to find a way to turn the tables on him and force him to his knees before the Dark Lord. To do that, he was sure, he would need the combined might of all his Death Eaters backing him. Fortunately, he believed, their loyalty to him was absolute.